But the Police Federation said it would take at least 24 months to recruit the 1,500 extra armed police officers planned nationwide, leaving areas of the country vulnerable to attack in the meantime. Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe said he wanted to offer reassurance to the British public that the trend would not endanger the United Kingdom, and said police vigilance has not changed. “I am afraid I can not do that entirely”, Hogan-Howe wrote.
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The threat to the United Kingdom is at the second highest of five possible levels, meaning an attack is highly likely.
“Severe” – which suggests that an attack is highly likely – is one level below the highest threat level. And though numerous terror plots have said to have been foiled by intelligence agencies, small-scale attacks, like the murder of soldier Lee Rigby in May 2013, have still occurred.
He added the UK’s counter-terrorism advantages include tight gun laws and a close working relationship between police and the security services.
AN INCREASE OF 600 armed police will be deployed to the streets of London from today as the capital city increases its counter-terrorism measures.
Speaking in Hyde Park, Sir Bernard said: “People aren’t fools – they know that in the event that there is a firearms attack, we are going to have to respond with firearms”.
“It has often been said that “communities defeat terrorism” and now that’s more important than ever before”, he said.
Armed police in visible roles are to patrol the streets of London and could include popular tourist attractions such as Tower Bridge and around the Tower of London.
But Mr Rowley went on to say that more public assistance is needed in order to maintain people’s safety.
They are trained to operate on water, to abseil and some teams operate on motorbikes. It means that the vigilance of our officers is backed-up by millions more eyes and ears.
Hercules is part of the Met’s commitment to delivering extra armed officers to protect against the threat of terrorism.
He also paid tribute to the men and women who “put their own lives at risk every day” to protect the capital.
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A POLICE chief has warned people to “run away as far as possible” if terrorists hit London. We ask these officers to run in the opposite direction to you. They do this knowing that their split second decision making will be scrutinised in post-incident investigations that can sometimes last many years.
